Customer Case Study - Flying Logo Opening for 'Entertainment Tonight'

Okino's PolyTrans software performs many problem-solving tasks for a disparate and dizzying number of different customer applications, markets and professions - from animation, production, design, CAD, MCAD, and so forth.

One of its best known and main uses has been as the industry standard to perform bidirectional conversions of complete scenes between 3ds Max and Lightwave, including all animation, skinning, geometry content, textures, materials, lights, cameras and hierarchy.

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Customer problem to solve:

Alain Savoie approached Okino late into the evening, the day before a near impossible deadline. Alain is the graphic designer for Entertainment Tonight, Canadian Edition. He had received the Entertainment Tonight flying logo animation data from his American counterpart, in Lightwave format. He needed it fully animated and rendered within 3ds Max the next morning and was not thrilled to think that he might have to recreate the scene by hand.

Solution to the customer's problem:

This has been a primary problem for many 3ds Max and Lightwave animators since both packages came to market. Okino had developed a good reputation by the mid-1990s of being able to provide ideal bidirectional conversions between 3ds Max and Lightwave, something that is still core to our business and customers today.

Alain Savoie purchased PolyTrans near 5pm and then worked with Okino's CEO, Robert Lansdale that evening to get all of the Lightwave data brought into 3ds Max cleanly. As said by Robert Lansdale, "When I sense a customer is under a tight deadline, and are up against a wall, I feel compelled to get them out of their bind quickly. I've been working with Lightwave and 3ds Max since the early 90's so I can provide quick and re-assuring help. Data conversion is not all about pressing buttons and letting a process go to completion, but also explaining to customers how and why two animation packages differ, and how to get the best conversion done with some upfront knowledge and explanations. I am always pleased to hear that PolyTrans helps shave off a day or two of customer work, and relieve the pressures of impending deadlines".

After the scene data was all inside 3ds Max, Alain then went on to assign some new 3ds Max specific ray trace shaders and add in some Canadian specific text and geometry. By the next morning the first series of animations were coming out of 3ds Max and ready for first approvals from Global Television Network.

The animation went to air 10 days later as the opening sequence for Entertainment Tonight, Canadian Edition.

Copyrights

All graphics are Copyright Global Television Network. All Rights Rserved. No images may be reproduced without the explicit permission from Global Television Network, permission which Okino Computer Graphics has received.